Not Ketchup Chicken & Cupcakes

Dreams are conveyer belts of messages from Heaven. At least that’s true for my friend Erika Kerekes of NotKetchup.com. Erika went on a cherry picking excursion and hauled thirty pounds of cherries home. A cherry blizzard of homemade cherry cobblers, pies, and jams hit the Kerekes' kitchen. There came a day, however, when she says, “I couldn't look at another jar of jam. I started thinking about what else I could do with the cherries. Ketchup basically came to me in a dream.”

With cherries, Erika concocted her first batch of Not Ketchup. (According to the FDA, if a sauce doesn’t contain tomatoes, the product cannot be called ketchup.) When her ketchup-hating husband declared his love for Not Ketchup, Erika knew she was on the right track. Inspired, Erika dove into making more delicious batches of sauce with all manner of fruit – everything from apricots to kiwis and Chinese loquats!

So thanks to a few fruit loving angels, Erika’s heavenly Not Ketchup online store and business was born. Currently Cherry Chipotle, Blueberry White Pepper and Smoky Date are available for sale at NotKetchup.com. Erika did kindly gift me with a bottle of Cherry Chipotle as well as Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup. But the inspiration for the following recipes all came from my dreams! Kidding. I concocted the following chicken and cupcake recipes with some happy Not Ketchup R & D in the Ninja Baking kitchen. My husband and I were quite pleased with the results. Hope you are, too. Love to read your comments.

Place the chicken, daikon and carrot into a frying pan. Pour the soup stock (or water) over the three ingredients until they are just covered. Parboil on low to medium heat until the veggies are soft and the chicken is cooked. Drain the liquids from the pan. Set the chicken, daikon and carrots on a paper towel.

Into the emptied frying pan, drizzle the EVOO until the pan is well coated. Set the stove to a medium-low flame. Fry the chopped onions for about 3 minutes. Stir continuously until slightly soft. Whisk in the garlic and red pepper. Add in the chicken, carrots, daikon, the sauces, vinegar, mustard and Not Ketchup. Turn the flame to low, cover the pan and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.

Erika Kerekes, the creator of Not Ketchup, reported that many of our friends were enjoying the Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup with sweet things...I confess I was a bit skeptical. But, you never know until you try. And I'm glad I tried! My berry cupcakes infused with Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup turned out to be a burst of strawberry swirl and a touch of blueberry tang!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 package strawberry cake mix

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons of Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup

For the frosting:

1 container (8 ounces) whipped cream cheese

¼ cup softened butter

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup

Directions:

For the cake:
Substituting the milk for water, prepare the cake mix according to package instructions. Divide into cupcake cases in muffin tins. With a baby spoon drop US nickel-sized circles of blueberry sauce onto the batter. Swirl with a chopstick or knife. Bake according to package directions. You may need to add a minute depending on your oven and climate.

For the frosting:
Whip up the cream cheese and butter in a mixer. Pour in the blueberry sauce. Gradually add the powdered sugar.

Slather the frosting on top of cooled cupcakes. Decorate with purple sprinkles.